A Flower in the Snow
by JustAWriter1103
Summary: Emily Fields and Paige McCullers both want the spot of team captain on their high school swim team. Paige, who is very competitive, thinks the only way to secure that spot is through sabotage. After the summer of graduation, Emily finds out who her roommate and teammate at Harvard is. Paige McCullers. Paige says she has changed but has she? Paily. (Rated T for some bad language)
1. Bad Sportsmanship

**Hey everyone, this is my first attempt at a** ** _Pretty Little Liars_** **fanfiction and a Paily fanfic, so I hope you guys will bear with me. I would love to hear your feedback and constructive criticism is always welcome. :) Thanks for giving this a read.**

 **Disclaimer: PLL? Not mine.**

* * *

Chapter 1

 **Emily's POV**

Emily Fields climbed out of the pool, muscles aching and rung out her dripping wet hair. Her coach, Coach Fulton, walked up to her, grinning. "Wow Fields, have you been training to take over Johnson's spot as team captain?" she asked.

Emily smiled, dipping her head in confirmation. "Yeah, I actually am."

Coach Fulton nodded approvingly. "That's good. I can see you as team captain." Emily's heartbeat accelerated with excitement. She might become team captain! She thanked Fulton and turned around to walk back to the locker room when she was suddenly nose to nose with Paige McCullers, her teammate.

"Oh! Hi Paige!" Emily greeted. Paige grimaced in greeting and Emily's smile melted off of her face. What was Paige's problem?

"So, I heard you want to be team captain after Johnson graduates this year," Paige said casually.

Emily nodded. "Yeah, Coach just told me that she could see me as captain." Emily lifted her chin up slightly in pride.

Paige's eyes narrowed. "Really? Interesting."

Emily arched an eyebrow in confusion. "Why is that interesting?" she asked, a hint of uncertainty in her voice. Did Paige not think she was good enough?

"Well," Paige folded her arms, "I was thinking about taking Johnson's place too."

Emily looked at Paige in shock. Paige wanted to be captain as well? I guess that didn't surprise her too much, Paige always liked competing and taking the lead. "Oh wow," Emily was speechless. "Well, um, let the best swimmer win."

Paige smiled sarcastically. "Don't worry, Em. I will." She sauntered off towards the locker room. Emily was frozen in place, still trying to comprehend what had just happened.

* * *

The next day at lunch, Emily explained what Paige had said to her friends. "Seems like Paige is pretty confident that she's going to become the team captain," Spencer observed.

"Yeah, but why?" Emily asked. "Am I not as good as her?" she added worriedly.

Spencer shrugged. "I'm not sure, but maybe her confidence will be her downfall." Not sure? That didn't help Emily's confidence at all, but she didn't blame Spencer. Spencer couldn't say that she thought Emily was the better swimmer just because they were friends.

"It doesn't seem like she's too worried," Aria added.

"She might be bluffing. We bluff to intimidate the opponents in field hockey," Spencer informed them.

"Well, whatever her tactic is, it won't work," Emily stated.

Spencer grinned and patted Emily on the back. "Atta girl!"

Emily grinned back at her, but couldn't help worrying. What if Paige would do whatever it takes to become captain of the swim team? Paige was very competitive and Emily didn't know how far Paige was willing to take it. Emily had never really talked to Paige very much even though they were teammates. She knew that Paige was a very good swimmer and that was about it. She scanned the lunch room and her eyes stopped on the said girl. Paige turned around as she felt someone's gaze on her. Seeing it was Emily, she got up and strode over to the table. Emily's friends looked at Paige in surprise as she put her hands on the table and leaned forward.

"Why were you staring at me, Fields?" Paige asked, a little accusation in her voice. Emily opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Paige scowled and leaned closer. "Are you trying to psych me out of being captain?"

Emily cleared her throat nervously. "Uh, not that I know of..."

"Good, because I don't get scared off that easily," Paige said before walking off. The girls exchanged glances.

"So...that was weird," Aria commented.

"What a bitch," Hanna muttered, glaring at Paige's retreating back. Emily silently agreed with Hanna but didn't want to say it aloud because Paige was still her teammate, her very rude teammate.

* * *

The next day, Emily was walking to her locker when Paige strode past, bumping her hard in the shoulder. Emily closed her eyes and took a deep breath in. Paige was just trying to mess with her. She brushed it off and continued to her locker.

That same day at swim practice, Emily was in the pool, practicing her freestyle. Her strokes were powerful and full energy. She reached the wall and stopped, looking up at her coach for her thoughts. The coach beamed at her and Emily unconsciously replicated the smile as she got out of the pool.

"Nice work today, Emily," her coach praised. "You're training hard and that's what I like to see." She clapped Emily on the back and turned to Paige, who had suddenly appeared on Emily's right. "You did well too, McCullers," the coach added before leaving the two girls alone. Emily was about to leave as well, but Paige grabbed her by the arm. Sighing, Emily turned around, dreading whatever Paige had to say.

"Good job, Fields," Paige said flatly. Emily's eyes widened in surprise. Was Paige McCullers actually complimenting her? Had she been sent to an alternate universe without knowing? Or maybe Paige actually decided to be a good teammate. Emily opened her mouth to say thank you and to give Paige a compliment, but Paige was not finished.

"But, if that's your A game, then I might as well be celebrating when I become captain," Paige smirked and headed out to go change. Emily was once again left frozen in place.

* * *

"What do you think I should do about it?" Emily asked, talking to Hanna on the phone later that night.

"Well, if it were me, I'd stick my foot up Paige's-" Hanna began before Emily interrupted her.

"Hanna! I am not doing that!" Emily said in horror. She cringed just thinking about it.

Hanna laughed. "Of course you aren't. I'm just saying what _I_ would do if Paige was being a bitch to _me_."

Emily sighed, rubbing her temple with her free hand. "Ok, but what do you think _I_ should do?" Emily was becoming impatient.

"Why don't you do the same thing that Paige is doing?"

"Which is what? Being an ass?"

"No! Well...yeah, but also, no! Why don't you try threatening her?" Hanna suggested.

Emily frowned. "Um, maybe because if Coach hears that I'm threatening someone, she's never going to make me the team captain."

"But isn't Paige threatening you...?"

"Yeah."

"Then why can't you threaten her?" Hanna had a good point, but Emily still wasn't sure if she would be able to do it. Was she even that intimidating?

"I'm not sure, Han. I'll think about it." Emily was lying through her teeth, but it was the only way to get Hanna to stop pestering her. After ending the call with Hanna, Emily collapsed on her bed, staring at the ceiling. Why was Paige McCullers making her life so damn hard?


	2. Paige's Torture

Chapter 2

 **Emily's POV**

Emily frowned as she did her homework at The Brew. She tried to concentrate on it, but Paige kept slipping into her mind. As Emily worried, she heard a snap. Surprised, she looked down at her pencil, which had broke. Sighing in annoyance, she started to pack up her stuff. Someone approached her and sat across from her. Glancing up, she scooted back in surprise to see Ezra Fitz staring at her.

"Oh, hi Mr. Fitz," she said, her voice a little hoarse.

She cleared her throat as he spoke. "Hey, are you okay?" Mr. Fitz looked concerned.

She forced a smile and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine," she looked down, still trying to pack her stuff. She eventually got all of her papers in her binder.

"So, are you working on that essay I assigned the class?" Ezra asked out of the blue, motioning to the work.

Emily shrugged. "Yeah, and other stuff..."

Mr. Fitz sighed. "Look, Emily, I know it's your junior year and you've got your SAT and colleges to worry about," he told her gently.

She grimaced, not really wanting to think about that stuff. "I have a lot of homework so..."

He raised his eyebrows, realizing what she was silently asking. "Oh! Of course! I'm sure you do. Uh, I actually have some stuff to do as well," he stated. "So, I guess I'll see you in class tomorrow."

"Yep, totally." She turned to leave, but before she could, he grabbed her elbow gently. She turned around to face him again.

"Emily, I just wanted you to know that if there's anything that's bothering you, you can always come to me," he said, staring into her eyes to make sure she knew he meant it. She smiled and nodded, thanking him and heading to the door. Mr. Fitz kept his gaze on her as she left, wondering what could be bugging her.

Emily exited The Brew and looked around in astonishment. It was dark...how long had she been in there? She shrugged and headed towards her car, nearly pissing herself as someone popped up from behind her car. Emily squinted, trying to make out who it was. The person had long hair and was somewhat tall. The longer Emily studied the person, the more she could make out. All of a sudden, she recognized who it was.

"Paige?" Emily questioned loudly. Paige, who had been trying to figure out who Emily was, froze. As Emily got closer, Paige broke out into a full sprint until she was gone. Emily, confused as to why Paige was behind her car, got in and turned the key.

Putting the car in drive, Emily started forward, but the car was going unusually slow. She checked to see if the parking brake was on, but it wasn't. Maybe she had a flat. She got out to check, grabbing her small flashlight that she always carried in her car.

Squatting down, she saw that someone had slashed her tire. She quickly went to check the others and sure enough, they were all flat. Paige. Emily let out a loud groan of frustration as she pulled out her phone to call a tow truck.

Emily sat silently in the truck, as she was driven home. The driver kept glancing at her, looking like he wanted to ask her something. Eventually, tired of the awkward silence, he asked, "So, how'd you get the flat tire?"

She sighed, trying to figure out the best way to answer that. Of course, he picks the hardest question for me to answer. "Um, there might have been some glass or something on the road and I probably drove over them," Emily told him and he looked at her in disbelief.

"Really? All four tires?"

"Yeah..."She could tell that he knew she was lying, but he didn't say anything as he dropped her and her car off.

"I could drop this off at the mechanics for you. That's what I usually do," he said to her, but she shook her head.

"No, it's fine. Thank you." Emily smiled slightly before heading up the path and to her house.

* * *

Her mom approached her as she entered the house. "Hey Emily," her mom greeted.

"Hey," Emily said softly.

"How did you get a flat? And a flat in all four tires?" Mrs. Fields looked concerned. Emily told her the same thing that she had told the tow truck driver, but unlike the driver, her mom refused to accept the answer.

"No honey, you couldn't have got a flat in all four of your tires just by driving over some shards of glass."

"Mom, that's what it was," Emilly said exasperatedly.

"So are you sure that no one slashed your tires? Maybe there's someone at school who you don't get along with?"

Emily hesitated, thinking about Paige before answering. "No, not that I know of."

"No one on your swim team?" Mrs. Fields pressed.

Emily froze. "Mom, no one on my swim team would ever do that to one of their teammates!" Emily said defensively. Except for Paige McCullers.

Her mom put her hands up in surrender. "Okay, okay, I'm just wondering."

"Thanks for your concern, but I'm fine," Emily assured her before heading up to her room.

* * *

"WHAT?" Hanna shouted at the top of her lungs at lunch the next day. Emily tried in vain to keep Hanna's voice down. She looked at the rest of her friends for help, but they didn't notice. Aria was staring at nothing, probably in shock while Spencer was gripping the table and throwing Paige dirty looks. "She's gone too far," Hanna announced, getting up.

"Hanna, no!" Emily seized her arm and yanked her down.

Em, she can't get away with this!" Hanna growled.

"Hanna, please, it's fine."

"Why are you letting her do this?" Hanna demanded. Emily sighed, not answering. The truth was...she didn't know. She didn't know why she kept letting Paige get away with bullying. What was wrong with her?

"Hanna, Emily obviously doesn't want you trying to fix things by yourself," Spencer pointed out.

Hanna turned to her, betrayal clear on her face. "You don't want to help Emily when she's getting BULLIED? What kind of friend are you?" Hanna said in disgust.

Spencer gave her a look of annoyance. "It's not that I don't want to help Emily, but there's only so much you can do if that person doesn't want help," Spencer told her calmly. Hanna opened her mouth to retort, but realizing Spencer was right, she closed her mouth. Emily shot Spencer a thankful smile before reaching over to squeeze Hanna's shoulder comfortingly.

Aria, who had returned from her thoughts, looked around in confusion. "What just happened? Sorry, I got distracted after you told us that Paige slashed all four tires yesterday."

"Nothing that matters anymore," Spencer said, not wanting to make Hanna angry again. The rest of lunch was silent as all four of them tried to cast subtle glances, or glares in Hanna's case, towards Paige. Surprisingly, she either didn't notice or ignored them. Emily was glad that her friends were so protective, but she really didn't want to make things worse.

* * *

At swim practice, Emily was so distracted by Paige's presence that she wasn't performing her best. Coach Fulton noticed and asked her about it, wondering if she was okay. Emily said that she was just worried about the big test tomorrow in history. Her coach told her to concentrate and worry about the test later. Emily stayed a little later after practice, embarrassed that her coach saw her slacking.

She finished her last laps and put her hands on the edge of the pool to hoist herself out when she felt a strong hand on her head, pushing down. She looked up in surprise to see Paige McCullers, squatting down. Then her head went under water. She screamed, but only bubbles came out of her mouth. The hand holding her head down relented, letting her back up before dunking her back in. She tried grabbing at the hand, but she was starting to tire out. Her legs and arms flailing, her lungs started burning out. She looked around, panicked. Suddenly, the hand disappeared and Emily latched onto the side of the pool, panting like she had run a marathon with a tire strapped to her back.

She hung there for a while as she recovered physically and mentally. Slowly but surely, she climbed out of the pool and trudged to the locker room. Emily left the school even more frightened of what Paige McCullers was capable of. She decided not to tell her friends. Especially Hanna. She knew there was no way to stop Hanna from attacking Paige at school if she heard about what had just happened. Emily grimaced. Only a few more months before the school year ended and the new team captain was announced. Only a few more months before Paige's torture would stop.

* * *

 **A/N: Hey everybody! Hope you're enjoying the story so far! I do want to tell you that I'm on winter break right now, which is why I'm able to post almost every day. When school starts back up, I'm going to do my best to post as much as I can, but there's no guarantee that it's going to be every day or even every other day. I do have the weekends, which will help :) Thanks for reading my story, it means so much to me! Constructive criticism is always welcome!**

 **-JustAWriter1103**


	3. Knockout

**Disclaimer: Don't own PLL or "Right Round" by Flo Rida.**

* * *

Chapter 3

 **Emily's POV**

Emily's phone rang as she sat by her window, spacing out. Reaching down and checking the caller ID, she saw it was Aria. Pressing call, she raised the phone to her ear.

"Hey," Emily greeted.

"Hi! Are you busy today?" Aria asked jovially.

Emily couldn't help as a smile formed on her face. Aria just sounded so happy. "No, I'm not doing anything today," Emily told her, "what's up?"

"I was wondering if you wanted to go bowling?"

"Sure, is anyone else going?"

"Hanna and Spencer. Is 2:00 ok?" Aria queried.

Emily checked her clock, seeing that it was 1:00 pm. "Yeah, that's fine."

"Ok! Great, see you then!"

Emily agreed, hanging up. She decided to tell her mom since she was meeting up with the group in an hour. She saw her mom lounging on the couch, a magazine in her lap. Emily went to sit with her mom. "Hey, how're you doing?"

Her mom studied her like she was some kind of rare specimen. "I should be asking _you_ that." Emily gave her mother a puzzled look so she elaborated. "When you came home from school yesterday, you looked like you had seen a ghost and it had chased after you."

Emily, remembering what Paige had done, looked down. "Oh, no. That was just because..." she rushed to think of an excuse. "My swimming was off and Coach Fulton noticed. I'm gunning for team captain, so I was worried that my performance yesterday would lower my chances."

Pam nodded in understanding. "Ok honey, I was just concerned." Abruptly, her mom's face light up in surprise. Caught off guard by the sudden change of emotion, Emily scooted back. "I forgot to tell you yesterday, but I saw Nick McCullers at the grocery store and had a lovely conversation."

Emily winced. Oh yay! My mom was talking to my bully's dad and they had a "lovely" conversation. She forced a smile. "Oh wow. That's cool," she mumbled.

"Yeah, you remember his daughter, Paige? She's on your swim team, right?"

"Uh, yeah. She is," Emily confirmed.

"He said she wants to be captain too. I hope there's no animosity between you two. That's not a good thing for two teammates to have."

Emily snorted but covered it up with a light cough. "Nah, there's no animosity between us." Maybe just hostility from her and fear from me.

Her mom beamed, clapping her hands together once. "Oh good! Maybe you want to invite her to go bowling," Pam suggested, knowingly. Emily furrowed her brow. Why did her mom say it like that? Did she mean...? No, she couldn't...could she? Hinting that Emily and Paige should...get together? As in, relationship together...? Her look of shock made Pam laugh. Emily watched her mom laugh at her expression. Her and Paige dating? No way. Not unless tormenting your girlfriend was considered romantic.

"I think that Paige said she was going to swim or something today," Emily said hurriedly, trying to shut down her mom's thoughts on her and Paige dating.

"Oh, well, you better start practicing extra if you want that spot," Pam said pointedly. Emily nodded, getting up to go back to her room.

"Oh, by the way, Toby Cavanaugh stopped by and offered to fix your tires for free. So when you see him at school, you'd better thank him." Emilly smiled at Toby's kindness, assuring her mom that she would. She sat back where she originally was by the window when she was back in her room. Soon, it was 1:45 and it took about 10 minutes to drive to the bowling alley. Emily grabbed her keys and gave her mom a quick goodbye hug before heading out to her car.

Emily was at a stoplight when the car behind her starting to flash their high beams. Emily looked back, glaring at the distraction. Did this person even know how to drive? Staring at the driver's seat of the car behind her, she saw that it was Aria. She laughed, shaking her head. She continued to the bowling alley with Aria trailing behind her. Once she had reached the destination and parked, she went to meet Aria. "You crazy driver!" Emily playfully shoved her friend's shoulder. Aria smiled, gently knocking shoulders with Emily.

They walked into the bowling alley, the music blaring. Spencer and Hanna were already there and Hanna rushed over to them. "Emily! Aria!" She hugged them both before shoving the bowling shoes in their faces. "Are you kidding me? Why the hell do they make us wear these? I swear that bowling shoes don't match any outfit in the world," she paused. "Maybe a clown outfit. But that's it!"

Emily giggled. That's what Hanna was worried about? "I mean, seriously! They're mismatched too! The guy gave me a red one _and_ a blue one." Hanna muttered.

"I think they meant to do that." Spencer held up her shoes, which were also mismatched. Hanna just groaned and sat down to put them on while Emily and Aria got their shoes. Soon, they were all having fun, bowling. Spencer always took the longest to bowl, moving around to try and analyze the exact amount of power to use and the spot that she needed to hit in order to get the most amount of pins. Emily and Hanna were talking when Aria, who had been listening to the music intently, smacked the table.

Both Emily and Hanna jumped and looked towards their friend questioningly. "What kind of songs are they playing?" Aria said in an accusing tone.

"Huh?" Emily listened to the song that was playing.

 _From the top of the pole, I watch her go down  
She got me throwing my money around  
Ain't nothing more beautiful to be found  
It's going down down_

 _Hey! Shorty must know I'm the man  
My money loves her like a number one fan  
Don't open my mouth, let her talk to my fans,  
My Benjamin Franklins_

Hanna stifled a snicker. "Hey, isn't this song about stri-" she started, but Aria gave her a warning look before nodding her head towards a little kid staring at them. "Besides, this song came out three years ago. It's kinda old," Hanna informed them.

"Why are they playing this song? It isn't exactly kid-friendly," Aria grunted, not trying to mask her indignation. Emily shrugged, silently agreeing that it wasn't the best choice, but what could they do?

Hanna had become quiet but spoke up to Emily. "So, has Paige done anything else?" Her voice was surprisingly gentle like she was afraid of angering Emily. Emily shook her head, recalling that she didn't want to tell her friends about the incident.

"Well, that's good," a voice said. The girls looked up to see Spencer heading towards them. She had just scored a strike, but it usually took her about 2 minutes to actually bowl.

"FIELDS!" Emily winced, recognizing the voice. She saw Hanna stiffen which made her positive about who had hollered her name. She spun around as Paige strolled to her.

"Yes?" Emily attempted to sound confident, not wanting her friends to hear her shaky voice and realize how scared she was of Paige.

"Nothing, can't a girl greet her teammate?" Paige asked, but her smirk ruined the question.

Hanna stepped in front of Emily. "No, because the _girl_ is a complete bitch to the teammate." Hanna attempted to keep her voice low since there were kids around.

Paige threw Hanna an innocent look. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Yes you do, asshole. You've been tormenting Emily ever since you found out that she wants to be captain too. I'm surprised that you're still on the swim team. Your coach obviously couldn't see bad sportsmanship if it got naked and gave her a lap dance." Hanna told Paige spitefully.

Paige, a little surprised by Hanna's tone, narrowed her eyes. "Wow Fields, I thought you were more independent than this. You need your little blonde bimbo friend to protect you," Paige sneered. Hanna snapped. She lunged at Paige, who by reflex, swung her fist. It connected to Hanna's temple and she crumpled. Emily rushed forward to catch Hanna and Paige realized what she did. She backed away before turning and running out of the bowling alley. Emily held Hanna, while Aria dialed 911, explaining that her friend had been knocked unconscious. Soon, an ambulance came to pick up Hanna as the girls followed the ambulance to the hospital.


	4. Never Will Be Friends

Chapter 4

 **Emily's POV**

Hanna Marin lay in a hospital bed as Emily and her friends stared at her, hoping she would wake up. The doctor had reassured them that it wasn't too serious. There weren't any fractures, but her skull had been bruised and might have impaired senses and really bad headaches for about two months. Emily took her injured friend's hand in hers.

"So, are we going to address the elephant in the room?" Spencer asked dryly. Everyone looked at her questioningly. "Paige. What are we going to do about her?" Spencer added.

"What do you mean?" Emily inquired.

"Well, we can't just let her get away with this," Spencer said calmly.

Aria exhaled loudly before saying, "Well, Hanna did charge at her. She's probably going to say it was self-defense. And it was."

Emily gave Aria an exasperated shake of her head. "Aria? Whose side are you on?"

"Hanna's, but she did make the first threatening move."

"Yeah, but Paige was insulting her. She provoked Hanna," Emily piped up.

Aria looked down. It was obvious that she felt bad for defending Paige's actions. "Hanna could've verbally brought her down instead of trying to physically do it. Whoever strikes first is at fault, right? And if the person being attacked throws a punch or two...it's described as self-defense."

Seeing her point, Emily realized that Hanna might be blamed for almost tackling Paige. Spencer threw her hands up in defeat. "Ok, seriously. You have to snatch that captain spot from her, Em. It'll hopefully knock her down a few pegs."

Emily nodded. She _had_ to become team captain. What would happen if Paige became the team captain? Would she finally become nicer since she finally got what she wanted or would she go out of her way to have Emily swim the least during a meet? She decided that she didn't want to find out.

"What's happening?" A voice croaked. Everyone's heads snapped in the direction of the voice. Hanna had lifted her head, rubbing her left eye with the palm of her hand.

"Well...Paige called you a bimbo, you got angry, you channeled your inner Hulk, you charged and her fist flew," Aria said nonchalantly. Emily's mouth dropped open at Aria's explanation while Hanna frowned.

"Oh yeah, I remember that." She blushed, looking down. "That was embarrassing."

"Hanna, you defended me. You shouldn't feel embarrassed," Emily tried to console her.

Hanna raised an eyebrow in amusement. "I don't know what you're thinking of, Em. I got knocked out after one measly punch! THAT is what was embarrassing."

"Oh." Now it was Emily's turn to blush in embarrassment.

"But also, you're welcome," Hanna puffed out her chest, still lying in the hospital bed.

"Emily," Spencer said to get her attention. Emily turned to show she was listening. "Have you told your mom about this?"

"About Hanna getting hurt? Yeah, I-"

"No, about Paige bullying you?" Spencer interrupted.

"Oh...no," Emily stated quietly, moving her gaze down to her clasped hands.

Spencer looked surprised. "Really? Why not? I'm sure she could mention it to Mr. Hackett. He'd do something about it. Or you could tell him yourself. Oh, maybe he'd kick her off the swim team!"

"I really would prefer not to tell my mom," Emily told her flatly.

"But why?" Spencer said, almost whining.

"Because my mom has enough on her plate without having to worry about Paige bullying me. I honestly think it'll all blow over once one of us gets announced team captain."

Spencer grunted. Emily wasn't going to budge on this and she could tell that Spencer had picked up on that. "Ok, fine. But if Paige does anything else, I'm going to tell someone," Spencer warned.

Emily nodded in agreement. "As long as it's not my mom," she added.

Spencer rolled her eyes.

* * *

Hanna was released from the hospital three days after the accident, arriving at school to have mobs of people all around her. All anyone talked about was who was at fault. Hanna for charging at Paige or for Paige egging her on. Emily, Aria and Spencer had to form a protective triangle around their friend to shield her from all the people. Hanna didn't seem to mind the attention, but then again, Hanna never minded attention.

Paige had been just as crowded, but unlike Hanna, she just ignored them and shoved her way through the masses of people. She approached Hanna, who was taking pictures with people like she was a celebrity. Paige rolled her eyes and Emily clenched her teeth. She was not going to let Paige bully her friends too. "Hey," Paige snapped, poking Hanna in the shoulder.

As Hanna saw who it was, her smile turned into a guarded look. "What do you want, Paige?" Her tone wasn't aggressive, but more fed up.

"Why the hell are people crowding us?" Paige asked, glaring at the people who tried tugging on her arm.

Hanna looked at her like she was an idiot. "Because of what happened at the bowling alley? Where you _punched_ me and _knocked me out_."

Paige glowered at her. "Uh, you were the one charging at me like a fucking bull!"

"Because you were the one who called me a blonde bimbo!" Hanna shouted back.

"Oh, so it's illegal to tell the truth now?"

"You know what? I don't feel like dealing with you right now," Hanna huffed. She roughly walked past Paige, her friends hastily following her.

* * *

"I don't really want to go to this meet, you guys," Emily muttered as she sat in her car, driving to the meet with the group.

"Why not? It's the last meet of the season. You should be pumped!" Spencer glanced back at Hanna, who was bouncing in her seat like an excited kid. Aria, who sat beside her kept giving her amused/concerned looks.

Emily looked in the rearview mirror, a small smile creeping onto her face. "Yeah, I guess so," Emily said as she arrived at Rosewood High, pulling into a parking space. They got out of the car and walked towards the pool. Emily jogged to her teammates, a big grin on her face. They greeted her with enthusiastic hugs and soon, the meet began. Emily got up on the block and waiting for the cue.

She heard the starting pistol fire, her legs propelling her into the water in a neat dive. She concentrated on her strokes, her legs kicking hard. She didn't try to look at the lanes beside her to see how far ahead or behind she was because it wasted too much energy. Seeing the opposite wall looming closer, she flipped with perfect timing. Her feet landing on the wall, she pushed off, heading back as fast as she could. She pushed with the remaining energy and touched the wall, ending that race.

She bobbed in the water, putting her goggles on her forehead so she could look at the scoreboard. She scanned for her name and was overjoyed to see she had gotten first place. And she had beaten her old record by 13 seconds! She kept her smile as she hoisted herself out of the pool. "Fields! You beat the record set by Kayla Whitley!" Her coach hollered.

Emily stared at Coach Fulton in shock. "W-what? Kayla Whitney? The one who went to swim at the Olympics?" Emily stammered. Fulton nodded, her eyes glimmering with pride. Her teammates were still with shock. Then, all at once, they all rushed to Emily, gathering her in a big hug. They started chanting her name, only stopping when they saw how embarrassed she was.

Emily looked over, feeling someone's eyes on her. She saw Paige watching her, a sullen look on her face. She heard her coach shout something about her becoming captain, but she wasn't really focusing on it. She saw Paige's surly expression turn to jealousy. Emily tore her gaze away from her teammate as she turned back to her coach. "Sorry, what?"

"You're the new team captain!" Her coach shouted. Emily beamed but thought back to how jealous Paige looked. Her heart felt heavy. Paige not congratulating Emily for her achievement stung. Stung a lot. Emily knew that they never got along, but she didn't realize that Paige would refuse to shake hands with her. Or even give her a nod. Paige just walked away and sat on the bench like she was just waiting for the meet to finish.

Emily sighed, finally accepting that she and Paige would never be friends.


	5. Off To College

**By the way, most of the Harvard stuff is made up since I know nothing about the campus.**

* * *

Chapter 5

 **Emily's POV**

Once Emily had become captain, Paige hadn't really bothered her. She had actually never talked to her unless it was about swimming. Emily didn't mind though since Paige had stopped harassing her. Before she knew it, senior year was ending and she still hadn't gotten a college acceptance letter. She hadn't gotten a rejection letter either, which was good.

"EMILY!" Emily heard her mom shout as she came home from school one day.

"Yeah?" Emily asked as her mom rushed to her.

"You got this in the mail today!" Her mom shoved something into her hands and she looked at what it was. Harvard...to Emily Fields. Her heart nearly stopped. She glanced up at her mom, who was shaking with excitement.

"Well? Aren't you going to open it?" Pam questioned.

Emily looked back at the envelope in her hands. "Y-yeah. I'm just a little nervous." Her hands were shaking as she slowly opened the envelope. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath before pulling out the letter and opening it. She read it, her eyes skimming the paper as her smile grew larger and larger. "I...I got in..." she said in disbelief. "I got into Harvard and they want me to swim for their team!" Emily said with glee.

Her mom shared her excitement, bouncing on her toes. "Oh Em, I'm so proud!" Her mom wiped away tears of joy as she embraced her daughter. Emily was still in shock. She had gotten into Harvard! An Ivy League school! She could hardly believe it! Emily couldn't wait to call her friends and tell them the good news.

* * *

"That's amazing, Emily!" Spencer told her over the phone.

"Thanks!" Emily replied enthusiastically. "Have you gotten any letters yet?"

"One from Standford, but that's all for now."

"Wow! Stanford is a great school! Congrats!"

"Thanks! I'm still waiting to hear from the others, though," Spencer sounded doubtful like she didn't think the other colleges had accepted her.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll hear from them soon," Emily assured her friend.

* * *

The rest of senior year flew by and before Emily knew it, she was on a plane to Harvard. She was both excited and nervous as she got off the plane, heading to the baggage claim. She glanced around as she reached the baggage carousel, wondering if she had gotten there early since no one else seemed to be there. There was a loud beep and Emily nearly had a heart attack. She glanced towards the sound and saw the suitcases were being unloaded onto the carousel. More and more people seemed to appear, so Emily inched closer to the carousel.

Emily had brought a grey suitcase and a black suitcase. They were very common colors, but the black one had a big Rosewood High sticker, so it would be easy to spot. Sure enough, Emily spotted her black suitcase and made a beeline for it. She reached out and grabbed it just as someone else grabbed the handle as well. Not noticing, Emily took it off and put it down, before realizing someone else was holding onto the suitcase.

She looked up in surprise to see Paige McCullers, who was staring at her. It wasn't a "fuck off" stare, more like a "what in the world are you doing here" stare. Paige cleared her throat. "Um, I think this is my suitcase."

Emily glanced down at the Rosewood sticker that had Paige's name written on it. "Oh...right. Sorry," Emily said coldly. She still hadn't forgotten what Paige had done to try to become team captain. Paige had sensed that too because she just nodded and walked away with her suitcase. Emily sighed before seeing her luggage and pulling them from the baggage carousel.

Hopefully, Paige hadn't come here to swim for Harvard, but Emily had a feeling that she had.

* * *

Emily got to the campus and had no idea where to go. She started wandering around before someone asked if she needed help.

"Yeah, do you know where we're supposed to get our assigned roommate?" Emily asked.

"Oh yeah, that's the quad. It's not far from here. Just go straight that way," the girl pointed in front of Emily, "and take the first right you see. You should be able to spot a big cement area in the shape of a square with a bunch of benches. That's the quad."

"Ok, thank you so much," Emily said, as she headed off to the quad.

When she got there, she saw people in multiple lines. She realized that they were by last names, so she got in the A-F line. When she got to the front of the line, she stated her name and the guy looked through his files.

"Emily Fields...here we are! And it looks like your roommate is...Paige McCullers," he handed her the file which probably had a campus map and where her dorm was. Emily couldn't believe that Paige McCullers was her roommate. Was it because they both swam for the same school in high school?

"Hey Emily, guess we're roommates now." Emily heard a voice say as she spun around. Of course, Paige.

Emily grimaced. "Yeah..."

"Wow, don't look too happy," Paige said sarcastically.

"Well, it's a little overwhelming to hear that my high school tormenter is going to be my roommate during college," Emily said, with some sarcasm of her own.

"Whoa whoa, tormenter? I didn't _torment_ you," Paige sounded shocked.

"What do you mean, "you didn't torment me"? Are you kidding?" Emily started raising her voice, which caught the attention of some students.

Paige looked around, embarrassed. "Hey, hey, no need to be so loud."

Emily looked at her in disbelief. "You're crazy."

"Excuse me?"

"You're crazy. You think I'm just going to be able to forgive you for almost drowning me and knocking out my friend?"

Paige sighed in exasperation. "Ok, I apologize for the drowning thing, but Hanna came charging at _me_. It was self-protection, so I don't apologize for that."

Emily was so mad that she couldn't even say anything. She just shook her head angrily and walked off. Paige sighed again, like she could tell that Emily was not going to forgive and forget for a while.

* * *

 **I am so sorry that I haven't updated in, like, a week. I do have school work, which comes before fanfiction, but whenever I have time, I'll try to get a chapter in. Sorry again for the long wait, but Paige and EMily are roommates now! Uh oh...**


	6. A New Feeling

**Hey guys, I know you're all probably done with my apologies, but I'm so sorry for taking such a long time to update. I still feel really bad, even if I had a lot of school stuff to do. I will never abandon this story, so don't worry. It just might take a little bit to update, but I will finish it. :) Hope you guys like this chapter! Thank you to all the people who reviewed!**

* * *

Chapter 6

 **Paige's POV**

"Hey Emily," Paige greeted as Emily entered their dorm room. Emily grimaced at Paige before collapsing on her bed in exhaustion. "Wow, was the class that tough on you?" Paige said, her tone lightly sarcastic.

Emily turned her head to give the other girl a glare. "No. I'm just tired." Emily said shortly.

Paige cocked her head curiously. "Why?"

Emily sighed with annoyance, sitting up. "Look Paige, I'm really tired of you talking to me, so if you could please _not_ talk to me...that would be great."

Paige stared at the girl in shock. "Well, sorry to burst your bubble, but we are roommates." Paige retorted, narrowing her eyes. Emily snorted, rolling her eyes. Paige frowned, what was this girl's problem? "Look, I know that we didn't get off to the best start-" Paige began before Emily cut her off.

"Yeah, we didn't. You know why? Because you were busy slashing my tires and trying to drown me!"

Paige dropped her head. "I-I didn't mean to..."

"What? How can you not mean to hold someone underwater?" Emily asked in disbelief.

"I wasn't going to actually drown you," Paige mumbled, still not looking at Emily.

"Well yeah, otherwise you'd be in prison right now," Emily muttered.

Paige sighed, knowing that she'd have to try to get Emily to forgive her. "Emily, I was really naive in high school and really competitive," Paige started. "I really wanted to be captain and you were our best swimmer. I knew that the coach would pick you."

Emily raised an eyebrow. "So why would you try to _murder_ me?"

Paige looked at her in exasperation. "I wasn't trying to _kill_ you. I was just trying to scare you a little bit." As Paige stared at Emily to see her reaction, she couldn't help noticing how pretty Emily was. Wait...pretty?

"Well, congratulations. You accomplished your goal. You scared the shit out of me." Emily said with a hint of anger.

Paige winced, not liking the tone of her voice. "I know. I really am sorry."

Emily still kept her eyes narrowed. "Well, don't expect me to forgive you _that_ easily. Just because you apologized."

Paige nodded in understanding, her eyes drifting from Emily's face to her neck and then from her neck to her boo-wait, what? Paige immediately moved her gaze to the floor. She felt her face burning with embarrassment.

"Um, Paige?" Emily asked. Paige glanced up at her quickly to see Emily's confused face as she nodded her head rapidly. "Uh, ok. Well, I'm just gonna...take a shower." Emily said awkwardly as she got up. Paige started to imagine Emily in the shower, imagining Emily cleaning her bare body...ok, there was really something wrong with her. She had never thought of Emily in this way before. Why now? Especially when Emily was still pissed at her. But Paige couldn't help eyeing Emily's butt as she walked over to get her pajamas. Paige shook her head, shifting her gaze slightly to the right, not wanting to be caught ogling her roommate's ass. Did...did she have _feelings_ for Emily? She curiously imagined kissing the other swimmer and was shocked when she felt her heart beating faster and her stomach fluttering with excitement. She had feelings for Emily.

As Emily was taking a shower, Paige started brainstorming how she could get Emily to forgive her. She had to let Emily know that in high school, she was super naive and stupid. Every time Paige tried to tell her that, Emily always just gave her a doubtful look. Maybe she could take Emily out to go bowling or something fun. Would Emily even agree to that? What would be something that would get Emily to trust her?

* * *

A few days later, Paige was reading a book on her bed when Emily came in. The swimmer looked up to see the other girl's face streaked with tears. Since that day where Paige had realized she had feelings for Emily, her feelings had only grown stronger and Paige felt her heart breaking when she saw Emily was crying.

"Emily, what happened?" Paige asked, her voice full of concern. Emily looked puzzled for a second about why Paige sounded so worried but shrugged it off, her tears falling faster and harder. She opened her mouth, trying to get out words, but failing. Paige got up, walked towards the swimmer and tentatively wrapped her arms around her. Paige felt Emily tense up as her touch but slowly relaxed into her arms after realizing Paige wouldn't let go anytime soon. Emily buried her face into Paige's shoulder, still crying. Her shirt got damp, but Paige could care less. She had Emily in her arms, so the world could end and Paige wouldn't notice.

A little while longer, Emily looked up and slowly untangled herself from her roommate. Paige snapped out of her daze as Emily stepped back from the long-lasting hug.

"Well, uh, thanks." Emily glanced down at her feet, blushing in embarrassment.

Paige cleared her throat awkwardly. "No problem," she said as she stuffed her hand in her pocket. Paige stepped closer to her, but Emily quickly backed away, fear lighting her gaze.

"Well, I'm just gonna...go now," Emily stated, opening the door and rushing out.

"You just got here," Paige murmured under her breath, her heart feeling like it was filled with lead. She saw the way Emily had looked at her. She was still scared. She was still scared of Paige.


	7. Apology

**Hey everyone! Thank you for all the reviews and thank you all for being so patient with my updates. :)**

* * *

Chapter 7

 **Paige's POV**

 _Paige felt soft lips on her cheek as she opened her eyes. Emily's beautiful face smiled down at her, her dark locks falling down gracefully. "Hey Paige," she said softly. Paige swallowed hard, trying to speak. She opened her mouth to say something and the other girl took the opportunity, quickly pressing her lips against Paige's. Emily put her hands on either side of_ Paige's _body, slowly laying down on top of her. Emily sneaked her tongue into the other swimmer's mouth. Paige moaned the other girl's name and put her hands on Emily's waist. Slowly, Paige let her hands glide down until her hands were at Emily's upper thighs. Paige lightly squeezed to see Emily's reaction. The girl let out a quiet sigh which encouraged Paige to squeeze again. Emily's hand had drifted from Paige's side to where Paige's heart was beating rapidly. She slowly lowered her hand until she was grasping Paige's boo-_ "PAIGE!"

Paige McCullers woke up in a sweat to see Emily pacing at the foot of her bed. "Huh...?" Paige asked groggily.

"Thank god you're awake. You were scaring me." Emily grumbled to her. Maybe it was being abruptly awakened, but Paige was having a hard time processing her words. Was Emily _worried_ about her? Why? Last time she had seen Emily, she had been running away from Paige.

"Um, why?" Paige slowly got out of bed, her voice raspy.

"You were...um...writhing in your bed." Emily awkwardly looked away, her face had traces of red. Paige was filled with dread. She had a feeling that she had said something else in her sleep that made Emily uncomfortable. And considering the dream that she had...it wasn't looking very good. She had to know.

"Was that all I said?" Paige asked tentatively.

The brunette looked nervously at her as if deciding whether to lie or not. "Well," Emily looked everywhere except Paige. "You said my name."

Paige immediately felt the blood rushing to her cheeks. She had said Emily's name out loud? Paige could hear the gears turning in her head as she tried to come up with a reasonable excuse for saying her roommate's name in her sleep. Maybe this could be a way to get Emily to slowly start trusting her. "Well, I actually did have a dream about you," Paige started, but quickly added, "not, like, a creepy dream." Emily nodded cautiously, looking a little curious as to why Paige was dreaming about her. Paige could feel her palms starting to sweat as she remembered the dream. "Yeah, so it was me trying to apologize to you for being an asshole during high school, but you didn't believe me and ran away." Paige hung her head as she recalled what she had done to Emily. "I know you probably won't believe me but...I really am sorry for what I did. I don't expect you to forgive me, but I do hope that you'll stop hating me."

Paige flinched back in surprise as she felt a hand on her arm. She raised her eyes to meet Emily's. "Paige, you put me through hell. But I would be lying if I said that I haven't done things that I've regretted. Everyone deserves to be forgiven." Emily said gently.

The other girl's words were swimming around in Paige's head. She was relieved and grateful that Emily was kind enough to forgive her even though Paige wasn't worthy of had Emily forgiven Paige so fast and so easily? Was Emily that nice of a person? Probably. "I don't mean to sound rude or anything, but why did you run away from me last night?" Paige questioned quietly.

It was Emily's turn to drop her head and study the floor intently. "I don't really know. I guess it was the first thing that came to my mind." Emily admitted. "After years of your tormenting, it probably got ingrained in my brain."

"What got ingrained in your brain?" Paige asked.

The swimmer shrugged half-heartedly. "Fear. I suppose I was so used to being in constant fear that you'd try to drown me again or something."

Paige felt guilt creep up on her and threaten to swallow her whole. She really _was an_ asshole. "If it makes you feel any better...I wouldn't have drowned you. I did it to scare you. Not that it was a good thing."

Emily just nodded, biting her lip nervously. Paige, who was worried that Emily was nervous about _her_ , couldn't help but think how cute Emily was. Everything Emily did would be cute to her. Paige inwardly winced at the creepy thought.

"Well, I actually have a class starting pretty soon, so I think I'm going to head off." Emily mentioned, slowly moving towards the door.

"Oh yeah. Me too." Paige quickly gave her teammate a tight-lipped smile and headed to their bathroom.

* * *

 **Emily's POV**

Emily closed the dorm room door and started meandering to her class. The slow journey gave her time to think and process what had just happened. Paige had apologized and she had forgiven. That was basically it. The only question in her mind was why she had forgiven the swimmer so easily. Emily had been known to keep grudges, but for some odd reason, she had forgiven Paige's actions without a second thought. Emily had no explanation for why but maybe her gut was telling her that she and Paige could be good friends. She had a feeling that it was a little more than that.

For instance, why would Emily's pulse increase every time they locked eyes? That didn't normally happen with friends, did it? At least for her. Emily had never felt such a sensation when talking with Hanna, Aria, and Spencer. Weird. She _had_ felt it with Maya, her ex-girlfriend. But she couldn't like Paige that way. She had spent all of high school being scared of Paige. How could she be attracted to Paige in such a short amount of time? Not to mention that she and Paige finally were sort of on good terms. She closed her eyes, attempting to banish all thoughts concerning Paige in her mind temporarily. After all, she had a big test today that she had just remembered. Oops.

* * *

 **Ah Emily XD. I can totally relate though. I've forgotten I have tests many times. Hopefully, this chapter wasn't too short. Sorry if it seems like Emily forgave Paige too easily, but once they become closer...the fun begins. *insert evil laugh here***


	8. A Mystery

**Hey everyone, I know I haven't updated in a SUPER long time and I apologize, but school's been pretty tough on me. Hopefully, you guys aren't too mad.**

* * *

Chapter 8

 **Paige's POV**

Emily opened the door and threw herself on the bed that Paige was sprawled on. Paige could feel her heart rate increasing as the distance between her body and Emily's decreased. Hoping that her face wasn't red, she turned to glance at her friend. "What's up?" she asked casually. Emily just replied with a grunt. "Wow, that bad, huh?" Paige raised an eyebrow. Sighing, Emily turned her body towards her roommate.

"Not bad. Classes are just boring." Emily whined. Paige laughed, shaking her head ruefully. "What? They are!" Emily said, keeping her whining tone.

"You gotta keep yourself engaged, Em."

"Ugh, ew. Who'd want to be _engaged_ with school? I am NOT being a bride." Emily smirked when she saw Paige roll her eyes.

"You're such a smart ass," Paige muttered.

"Thank you!" Emily gave her teammate a playful slap on the arm. Paige felt tingles where Emily's hand had touched her. Paige had never really felt anything like this for a girl before, so she had no idea what to do. Especially since this girl was gay. "But, one thing that made my day less boring..." Emily's voice drifted off.

"What?"

"There was this _really_ cute girl at Starbucks. And I'm pretty sure she was flirting with me. I mean, she put a heart after my name...although she replaced the 'y' with a double 'e'." Emily frowned as if she was thinking, _who spells 'Emily' wrong?_ Paige laughed, but couldn't help the strange feeling in the pit of her stomach. She felt like she wanted to go over to that Starbucks and punch the girl straight in the face for flirting with her friend. She groaned softly. Why did this have to be so hard?

Unfortunately for her, Emily had heard that slight noise and she put her hand on Paige's arm. "Are you okay?" she asked, her face scrunched in concern. Paige found herself lost the swimmer's dark brown eyes. They reminded her of hot chocolate. The way her stomach felt warm after drinking hot chocolate was the way Emily made her whole body feel. Warm and happy.

"Paige?" Emily prompted gently, causing Paige to break out of her stupor.

"Uh, yeah?"

"Are you okay?" Emily repeated.

"Oh, I'm fine." Paige said immediately. Emily looked dubious but smiled and nodded.

* * *

 **Emily's POV**

Emily could sense that something was troubling Paige, and being Paige's friend and that she was smitten with Paige, she wanted to help her. Paige had _said_ she was fine, but no one in their right mind would believe that. Emily felt a little hurt that Paige didn't trust her enough to tell her things. It had been months since the day that Emily had forgiven her roommate.

Emily was determined to help Paige even if Paige didn't want it.

The next day, Emily cornered Wesley, a fellow swimmer. "Hey Wesley, I need you to hang out with Paige today."

Wesley gave a smug smile, but for some weird reason, Emily caught a flicker of nervousness in his eyes. "A date with that babe? Sure thing, Emily." Emily gave him an annoyed look, trying to ignore the jealousy that was rising in her.

"Good," she said, " and don't mention that I told you to do this."

He gave her a sarcastic salute. "Aye aye, Captain." He turned and sauntered away. Emily watched his retreating back wondering if she had done the right thing. Why did she pick Wesley out of all people? The womanizer himself. What if it backfired on her and Paige ended up dating him. Emily cringed at the thought. _What's done is done,_ she thought regretfully.

* * *

 **Paige's POV**

"Hey, Paige!" Someone called out to her as she exited her English class. She glanced in the direction of the person and was surprised to see Wesley jogging up to her, a binder tucked under his arm.

"Uh, hi Wes. What's up?" Paige asked, slightly confused as to why he was talking to her. Usually, attractive guys ignored her.

"Well, I was just wondering if you had anything planned later today." Wes fell into step with her.

Paige, still puzzled, racked her brain, trying to remember if she had anything today. "I don't think so," she concluded and Wes gave her a huge grin.

"Awesome! I was thinking maybe we could go see a movie or something. And maybe get some food after." Wes looked down at the ground like...like he was actually shy. Paige had never seen Wesley shy with girls before. _Why not?_

"Sure, that sounds great." Paige smiled. So what if she liked Emily? Wes was cute and he was a guy. Her parents would never accept her feelings more a girl. Maybe Wes had a player reputation, but she could be the one to change it.

* * *

 **Emily's POV**

Emily had just finished her last class and was heading back to the dorms. Paige had agreed to the "date", so it was time to take action. Wes had texted her and she could tell he was actually excited, even though he had tried playing it cool. Hopefully, Wes would just think of her as one of his "conquests" as bad as that sounded. Emily just hoped that Paige wouldn't fall for Wesley because the last thing Emily wanted was for Paige to get her heart broken. All of her worries vanished as she stepped into their dorm. It was time to find out what was distracting Paige.


	9. Jealousy

**Hey guys, back with an update! Sorry that I'm updating once a month :( Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 9

 **Wes's POV**

"So, how'd you like _Black Panther_?" Wes asked Paige as they walked out of the theater. He always had thought Paige was cute, but she was different than all the other girls. And that scared him.

She shrugged. "It was ok. I wish there was more action."

" _What_? There was plenty action!" Wes looked at her in disbelief.

She raised an eyebrow. "Really?" Paige asked skeptically.

Wes shook his head in amusement. "Yeah. You must've fallen asleep during all the action scenes." he joked and she playfully shoved him.

"Haha. So funny," she deadpanned.

"I know I am," he smirked, but it quickly got replaced by an embarrassed look as their hands brushed each other. Wes had no idea what the hell was happening. Why was his heart beating so fast? Why did he feel like his face was about to burn off? Why did he suddenly have butterflies in his stomach? Why were his hands sweaty? Good lord, was he _falling_ for a girl? No, he never fell for anyone. He usually fucked and chucked, but for some odd reason, thinking about anyone fucking and chucking Paige made his blood boil.

"So, was I fun enough to snag a second date?" Wes asked casually but felt his palms start to sweat. Why were his ears getting uncomfortably warm? And why was he asking for a second date? He usually never did that, but something about Paige made him want a second one.

She looked at him in surprise like she didn't expect him to ask that, which made sense. "Uh, sure," she agreed.

He grinned. Score! "Cool...should we exchange numbers...?"

"Yeah, that would make it easier," Paige said as she handed over her phone and he gave her his. He quickly typed in his number, handed it back as he accepted his from her.

"Nice, so, I gotta go, but I'll see you around," he gave a slight smile as she nodded and headed their own ways.

* * *

 **Paige's POV**

Wes had been surprisingly sweet, which she had not thought would even be in the ballpark for his personality. And he had asked for a second date! Paige could tell that it was not something that Wes did often, judging by his expression and body language. She arrived back to her dorm room and saw Emily reading a book. "Hey Em!" Paige greeted.

Emily looked up from her book. "Oh, hey Paige! How was the date?" Paige frowned.

She hadn't told Emily about the date in case it went badly since Wes was a well-known player. "It was surprisingly good. He's very charming, but I can see that he's actually a good person. I think that he uses his 'player' status to make sure that he doesn't get hurt again. At least, that's what I've read in my romance novels," Paige said, only half-joking. Emily smiled at her teammate, but Paige noticed that it didn't reach her eyes.

"Wow Paige, that's great..." Emily's voice drifted off like she had no idea what to say next. Paige decided that she would ask the question that had been in her mind since Emily asked how her date was.

"So, how did you know that I was on a date with Wes? I don't recall ever telling you."

Panic seemed to flood Emily's brown eyes, before disappearing. "Oh, one of my other friends happened to see you guys." Paige lifted an eyebrow and opened her mouth, but Emily interrupted her. "You wouldn't know her. She doesn't go to Harvard."

"Oh ok," Paige paused, thinking. "So, where were we?" She decided to test her friend.

Once again, Paige thought that she saw a little panic on Emily's face, but this time it didn't go away.

"Um, I think she said you went to a movie or something like that," Emily responded. Paige nodded in confirmation and saw shock quickly pass on her roommate's face, but it went as quickly as it came. "So, did you guys talk about a second date?"

Paige smiled, thinking about how cute Wes was when he asked her. "Yeah, he asked me for one."

"And did you say yes?"

Paige rolled her eyes at her friend in exasperation. "Of course, dummy," she laughed. Emily soon joined her, but it seemed forced. Maybe Emily liked Wes as well.

* * *

 **Emily's POV**

Emily could not believe that Paige had actually fallen for that dumbass. She had thought that Paige, of all people, would _never_ go on a second date with that womanizer. All for nothing since she hadn't found anything to explain why Paige was acting so strangely. Emily felt like her heart was being squeezed when she thought about Paige and Wes dating. Paige should be dating _her_ , not Wesley Cooper. Knowing his reputation, Emily was convinced that he would find some way to cheat on her. She would never forgive herself if Paige got hurt because of her meddling. The one percent chance of being together with Paige would go down the drain if Paige ever found out that Wesley had been told by Emily to ask her out.

The only person who knew that is Wes, but she didn't trust him as far as she could throw him. She had to do something about this whole Paige and Wes thing. Their second date! That was it! She had to figure out some way to ruin their second date so badly that Paige won't want to go on anymore with him. Now what should she do? Excitedly, Emily got up and retrieved a pencil and paper. Sitting down on her bed and making sure that Paige wasn't paying attention to her, she started to plan out her "ruin Paige's date" plot.


	10. The Truth

Chapter 10

 **Paige's POV**

Wes had asked if she'd like to go to the beach for their second date and Paige had not hesitated to agree. She loved the beach. There was something so satisfying about wiggling her toes in the sand and tasting the salt in the air as she listened to the waves crash onto the shore. There was just one problem and it was the person she was with. She had thought that she liked Wes romantically, but the more she sat on the thought...she began to realize that she only thought of him as a friend.

"The one person she would really like to be with on a date to the beach was Emily. She groaned, resting her head in her hands. How was she going to tell Wes? Their relationship was still very new yet Paige felt a connection to him. It just wasn't romantic. Putting a t-shirt and shorts over her bathing suit, she headed out to meet Wes.

* * *

"Paige," Wes greeted, a smile spreading across his face. "You ready for our amazing date?" She inwardly grimaced at the word 'date' but put on a smile for him."Yeah, totally." She walked with him to his car in total silence. "So I was thinking," Wes said as they were stopped at a red light, "maybe we could hit the boardwalk and take a swim in the ocean. It would be pretty romantic."

"Yeah..." Paige responded distractedly, staring out the window since she couldn't bring herself to look him in the eyes.

Wes noticed and worriedly glanced at her before turning his eyes back to the road. "Paige?"

"Hmm?"

"Are...you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm just a little tired." She played with her necklace.

"Uh, alright. Just know you can tell me. I won't judge or anything." As he told her that, she winced. He was being so nice and it was making it even harder for her to tell him what she was feeling.

After a little bit, he shouted, "We're here!" Paige jumped a little, startled. "Oops, sorry babe," he gave her thigh a squeeze. 'Babe'? It was the second date!

"It's fine," she said as she stepped out of the car and wondered when the right time to tell him would come.

* * *

 **Emily's POV**

Emily watched Paige get into Wes's car and Operation Win Paige's Heart was on. She had asked to borrow a friend's car so that Paige wouldn't recognize her car as she followed them. She saw Wes's black Camero with distinct flames on the sides and rolled her eyes. What a douchey car for a douchey guy. After the "couple" had parked, Emily made sure to get out of her car ten seconds after they had started toward the beach. She didn't want Paige to see her.

As she followed them, she put on her sunglasses, feeling like a spy...before promptly tripping over a kid. "Are you okay?" Emily heard a soft voice. She looked up to see the most beautiful girl she had ever seen, besides Paige.

"Oh, yeah. I'm okay," Emily laughed nervously, brushing herself off in embarrassment.

The girl smiled and held out her hand. "Hi, I'm Samara!" Emily, realizing that she had lost sight of Paige and Wes, shook her hand distractedly. "Are you sure you're okay?" Samara asked again.

"Oh yeah. I'm just looking for someone," Emily responded.

"Oh, do you need some help?" The girl asked cheerfully. Emily snapped out of her daze and checked out her new friend. Hot, tall, fit, blonde...what a great way to make Paige jealous.

"That would be great," Emily smiled and added, "I'm looking for my friend. Her name is Paige McCullers and she's with an asshole right now." Samara looked very taken aback by the information but somehow a smile made its way back onto her face. Emily didn't know how one person could be so cheerful, but it was kind of rubbing off on her. They started walking in the general direction that Paige and Wes were heading.

"So what does Paige look like?" Samara asked casually, scanning her surroundings.

"She's pretty tall, maybe about 5'7" and she has dark brown eyes and long brown hair," Emily answered.

"She sounds pretty," Samara commented.

"She is...as a friend of course," Emily said awkwardly. "Oh look, there she is!" Emily gasped as her eyes fell on Paige.

"Oh yay! Let's go say hi!" Samara bounded over to them as Emily watched in horror.

"Samara, let's not..." Emily quickly followed her newly made friend.

* * *

 **Paige's POV**

Paige was having a good time at the beach with Wes...that was until a bubbly blonde came over to them with a mortified Emily following. "Hi! I'm Samara!" The blonde greeted, thrusting out her hand. Paige gave Emily a bemused look before carefully shaking Samara's hand. What the hell was this pretty girl doing with Emily? Paige had never seen Samara before. Were they on a _date_?

"Um, hi, I'm Paige and this is Wes," Paige gave a tight smile and pushed Wes forward a little. He quickly nodded his greeting.

"Nice to meet you. Emily was saying that she was looking for you," Samara told her.

Paige quirked an eyebrow as she studied Emily, trying to figure out why her roommate was here. Her fellow swimmer was staring fixedly at the ground, wringing her hands nervously. "Would you like to tell me why you were looking for me?" Paige asked her friend. Emily muttered something under her voice. "What was that?" Paige was starting to become irritated. Hearing the annoyance clearly in Paige's voice, Emily clenched her fists and jerked her head up.

Surprised by the sudden action, Paige took a step back. "I need to talk to you," Emily's voice, which was usually soft, had a steely tone to it. She gave Wes a grumpy look as she said," _Alone_." The Harvard swimmer grabbed Paige's wrist and dragged her off to a more secluded part of the beach where large cliffs hid them from the other visitors on the beach.

"What's up, Em?" Paige tried to sound light-hearted because Emily's demeanor was making her anxious. Emily looked her in the eye before taking a deep breath. "Are...you alright?" Paige's anxiety faded to concern for her friend/crush.

"I didn't know when to tell you this or if I should at all. It's probably really strange, considering our past, but I need to tell you. It's been bothering me for so long and even if you don't take it well, at least it's off my chest," Emily paused. "I...like you. And no, not just as a friend. Romantically. Like, want to _be_ with you. Want to be a couple. Want to go on dates. Want to..." her voice lowered to a whisper,"love you."

Paige gaped at her. Was Emily telling the truth or just messing with her? Did Emily really feel the same way? What had caused her to say that? Why did Emily not tell her sooner? All these thoughts were rushing through Paige's mind like a coalition of cheetahs. And, of course, all Paige managed to utter in response was,"What?"


	11. Mistrust

Chapter 11

 **Emily's POV**

After admitting her feelings to Paige, her fellow swimmer stood there speechless for a bit as she processed what had just happened. It may have just been thirty seconds, but it seemed like thirty hours to Emily. She could hear her heart pounding and her hands were getting sweaty. Finally, Paige seemed to snap out of her daze and her eyes found Emily's before they traveled down to look at her lips. What did that mean? Did Paige feel the same?

"E-Emily," Paige stammered,"are you being serious or just kidding?"

Emily was confused. Why would Paige think she would joke about having feelings for her? "I'm being completely serious, but you don't have to feel pressured to like me back if you don't. I'm totally cool with being friends." As the words came out of Emily's mouth, she knew it was a complete lie. If Paige friend zoned her, it would definitely _not_ be cool and it would take a little to get over her. Even though Emily hadn't realized that she had feelings for Paige until a couple of weeks ago, she could tell that she had been attracted to her way before.

Paige's rude behavior was probably what had gotten in the way of Emily's recognition of Paige's beauty. Maybe when they were tolerating each other as roommates, Emily had been in denial. Then Emily noticed that Paige had been talking while she was consumed by her thoughts. "...so yeah." Paige finished, blushing.

Emily was sure her face was blank as she looked at Paige, not knowing what Paige had just told her. "Uh, what?"

Paige gave her a half smile, gazing at Emily with an affectionate look in her eyes. "I said that I like you back."

Emily's eyes widened, hope filling her. "R-really?" Paige nodded in confirmation. Suddenly a thought hit Emily like Paige had hit Hanna. "Fuck, what about Wes?" Paige's eyes immediately darkened with guilt and worry. "Don't tell me you actually care about that dickhead," Emily said, exasperated.

Paige cocked an eyebrow, a smirk beginning to form. "Don't tell me you're jealous," she teased.

Emily straightened, affronted. "No, I'm not _jealous_. I just know that he's a man whore and not worth your time," she muttered.

"If you got to know him, you'd find out that he's actually pretty nice," Paige defended.

Emily sighed before saying, "Ok, so what are you going to tell him?"

"That I don't want to date him anymore."

"And you think he won't ask why?"

"I'll tell him it's because I want to date you," Paige paused uncertainly, "do you want to date me?"

Emily laughed lightly at the question. "Of course I want to date you. I wouldn't have told you how I feel about you if I didn't want to date you."

Paige looked relieved. "Oh good. Yeah, I guess that was a stupid question," she agreed ruefully.

"Well, we better get this over with," Emily motioned over to where Samara and Wes were still standing awkwardly.

* * *

"That was officially the worst thing I had to do this week," Paige grumbled as they walked over to Emily's car. Emily looked back once more to see Wes slumping to his car, dragging his feet.

"Yeah, I could tell that he had actually developed some feelings for you," Emily commented casually as she got into the driver's seat. Paige plopped down next to her as Emily turned the key.

"Ha, are you jealous?" Paige repeated her earlier question.

Emily snorted in amusement. "Nah, you're not into dudes...are you?"

Paige tilted her head, thinking. "You know, now that I think about it...nope, not that into dudes."

Emily couldn't keep a smile off her face and Paige chuckled. "Oh please, I see that grin," she said playfully.

They sat in silence for a while before Paige broke the silence. "So, when did you realize that you had a crush on me?"

Emily frowned slightly, racking her brain to remember. "I think it was when I woke you up from your dream where you were thrashing around in bed and you said you were dreaming about me running away from you after you tried apologizing," Emily laughed at the memory, but Paige didn't join in. Emily glanced over at her to see Paige's face had turned bright red. "Are you good?" Emily queried, moving her gaze back to the road.

"Um, yeah." Paige's voice cracked.

"If you say so," Emily said hesitantly, wondering if she should press more into the subject, but decided that Paige looked too embarrassed. "Anyway," Emily stated, trying to change the subject,"when did you realize you liked me?"

There was a slight pause before Paige answered the question. "It was way before my weird dream. I'm almost positive that it was when you were telling me about...about the slashing of your tires," her roommate said quietly and Emily could hear the regret. Emily just nodded and inclining her head towards her teammate to show that there were no hard feelings. The rest of the car ride was silent, but it was comfortable silence.

When they got back to the dorm, Paige announced that she wanted to take a shower and just to think. Emily readily agreed since she had wanted to call Hanna and tell her what had happened. Hanna was bound to tell Aria and Spencer anyway. When Paige stepped into the bathroom and closed the door, Emily immediately picked up her phone and clicked on Hanna's name, holding the phone to her ear.

"Hey bitch!" Hanna greeted cheerfully and Emily laughed at the greeting.

"Hey Han, how are you doing in New York?" Emily questioned.

"Eh, it's fine. New York is amazing, but NYU is too schooly. How's Harvard?"

"It's pretty good," Emily paused, wondering how to break it to Hanna that she and Paige might be prepared to date. "So, my new roommate's pretty cool."

"Really? Who is it?" Hanna's voice echoed loudly in excitement. Emily held the phone away from her, ears ringing. Once she put the phone back to her ear, she heard Hanna's quieter, "Oops, sorry."

"It's Paige McCullers," Emily winced, waiting for Hanna's loud tone again.

"WHAT?" Yup, there it was. "Are you guys, like, super awkward?" Hanna asked in sympathy.

Emily licked her lips nervously before saying, "Actually, we're kinda friends."

"WHAT?"

"Yeah, she's not so bad if you get to know her and we aren't fighting for the captain's spot anymore," Emily responded.

There was complete silence and Emily could tell that her blonde friend was searching for something to say. "Well, that's good," Hanna finally said.

"Yeah, we might even start dating." Emily cringed at the delivery of the news. What was she doing?

" _WHAT?_ ARE YOU FORGETTING THAT SHE CALLED ME A 'BIMBO'?" Hanna shouted at Emily.

"I remember that, but I know she's changed. She was just jealous because she had a feeling that I would become team captain," Emily quickly defended her.

"Are you sure that she actually likes you back? She's the kind of person to play with someone's heart because of boredom," Hanna warned, concern clear in her voice.

"I'm sure that she does," Emily answered, but her heart felt a little heavier as she thought about it. Was Paige actually into her, or just pretending?

"Are you sure that you like her?" Hanna questioned.

Emily thought about the times where her heartbeat would rapidly increase when around Paige and how she felt heat rising to her face when they locked eyes. "Yes, I know that I like her."

Hanna sighed, "I trust you Em, but you have to promise me to be careful around her. No matter how much she tells you she likes you or loves you or any of that shit. She might just be gaining your love and trust to break you. Revenge for taking away her chance to become captain..." Hanna kept talking on and on, but Emily found it hard to focus on the words. There was a buzz in her ears and she sat on her bed silently, lost in her thoughts. "Emily?" Hanna asked, shaking her from her stupor.

"What?"

"If she breaks your heart, I'll drive over to Massachusetts to do what I should've done before," Hanna growled darkly.

Emily blinked. "What should you have done before?"

She could practically feel Hanna's smirk. "Stick my foot up her ass." Emily vaguely remembered Hanna saying that on the phone when Paige was harassing Emily before.

Emily smiled at her friend's loyalty. "Ok Hanna," Suddenly the shower stopped running. "Shit, Paige's done with the shower." Emily whispered.

"Are you going to go join her?" Hanna asked slyly.

"What? No! I thought you were going to stick your foot up her ass," Emily replied in a low voice, casting nervous looks at the bathroom door.

"Well, that's if she breaks your heart. From what you've told me, she hasn't yet. Who knows, maybe she is actually into you. All I'm saying is to be careful because she might not be telling the whole truth."

"Ok, bye." Emily said, hanging up and Paige opened the door.

"Hi," Paige smiled, running her hands through her damp hair. "Who were you talking to?"

"Hanna."

Paige's smile turned into a worried look before quickly plastering a hasty smile back on. "Oh, that's cool. How is she?" Paige asked, hesitant.

"She's doing pretty well."

Paige nodded, scratching the back of her neck awkwardly before launching herself on her bed, pulling out her phone. Emily sat, silently gazing at Paige, wondering how much Paige was telling the truth. After all, Paige only confessed to liking her _after_ Emily admitted it first. Was Paige really trying to break her heart?


	12. A Kiss

**Hey guys, as you've noticed, I've been gone for quite a bit, but I hope that the two chapters I've recently uploaded are making up for it. I really appreciate that you guys are sticking with me and with the story. I don't think I've done a disclaimer in a while so: PLL isn't mine because if it were, I'd mess it up somehow haha. Thank you to all the reviewers and let's read some Paily! :D Also, the song I was listening to while writing this chapter was "Summer Nights" by Rascal Flatts. Amazing song :P**

* * *

Chapter 12

 **Paige's POV**

A couple of weeks after admitting their feelings for each other, Emily had become awkward in Paige's presence. She had no idea what had caused Emily to be so distant, but Paige was determined to find out. She sat patiently on Emily's bed, waiting for her roommate to walk in. She knew that Emily's class ended a few minutes ago, so she should be heading to her dorm. Paige sighed, playing with the bedsheets in boredom. She didn't really know what to make of her feelings right now. Her feelings for her teammate had increased when Emily confirmed that she felt the same way, but why would she act so distant after? Did she regret telling Paige? The door opened and she jerked up at once.

Emily entered the room and Paige immediately shot up, looking her friend up and down. _Damn_ , Paige thought, _she looks so fucking good right now_. Emily always left for class before Paige woke up, so she almost never got to see her. Emily jumped back a little, startled by Paige's sudden action. "P-Paige, hey," Emily gave her a tight-lipped smile.

Paige pushed down the irritation towards her fellow swimmer, not wanting to cause Emily to pull even farther into her shell. "Hey Em," she said gently. "We haven't talked in a while..." she drifted off and fixed her eyes on the floor, embarrassed that her voice was starting to shake. _Dammit Paige, you promised you were going to keep you cool!_ Lifting her gaze back up, Paige saw mixed emotions flicker in her friend's eyes. Pain, guilt, and regret.

"Paige, I-I don't know what to say."

"Well, you could tell me why you're avoiding me," Paige demanded as she let her annoyance get the best of her. "If I knew that confessing my affection about you would make you so withdrawn, I wouldn't have done it. Can you at least tell me why?"

Emily let out a gusty exhale. "Okay, you deserve to know." Paige took a small step forward, relieved that she would finally know what she had done. "It was Hanna," Emily told her and Paige furrowed her brow, puzzled.

"Hanna? Are you guys...together?" Paige felt like her heart fallen out of her chest.

Emily looked caught off guard by the question and her lips quirked up in a smirk. "Hanna and I? No, not at all. It's just," Emily paused, trying to explain, "I called her after coming back from that day at the beach and she said that you...might be lying. About how you feel about me. And you're just trying to break my heart for stealing the captain's spot from you."

Paige felt like she was frozen. Hanna thought that she was trying to manipulate Emily because of a grudge in high school? Paige admired Hanna's loyalty, but she had to do something to show Emily that it was far from the truth. The swimmer was avoiding Paige's gaze like she'd get the plague from looking into her eyes. Paige stepped closer and closer to Emily until their faces were inches apart. "That's not true at all," Paige whispered, slowly reaching for Emily's hand. The brunette tried to pull away, but Paige wouldn't let her.

"I was naive and ultra-competitive in high school. I hope you know that I regret all of it. I'd take back everything I did and said in a heartbeat, but we both know that impossible," Paige continued, seeing Emily biting her lip nervously. "I know that it will take your friends a while to trust me, but I'm more than willing to do anything to prove my feelings for you." Paige brought her other hand up to cup the other girl's chin. Lifting Emily's face up slowly, Paige bent her head a bit to capture her lips. Not wanting to push her teammate, Paige reluctantly pulled back, wanting to see Emily's reaction.

Her friend's eyes were still closed and her lips were still pursed. Slowly, Emily opened her eyes and gave Paige the most beautiful smile that she had ever seen in her life. "I believe you." Emily said softly in Paige's ear and Paige was over the moon in happiness. Emily leaned in again and Paige blissfully connected their lips again, feeling fireworks going off in her chest. Emily's hand made its way to Paige's cheek and Paige moved her arms to wrap around Emily's waist, pulling her closer. Emily's lips were warm, softer than she ever could have imagined. As Emily let out a soft moan, Paige saw her opportunity and decided to test the waters. She gently caressed Emily's lips with her tongue and Emily opened her mouth invitingly. Paige smiled as she explored Emily's mouth, the kiss deepening. Emily's hands hand dropped from Paige's face to her shoulders. Suddenly, Emily leapt backward as if burned by an invisible fire.

"Emily, are you alright?" Paige inquired worriedly. Emily nodded and took Paige's hand, stroking the back of it with her thumb tenderly.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I just was shocked by the passion."

Paige didn't know whether that was positive or negative. "And is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

Emily laughed. "It's a good thing for sure. I haven't felt like that in a while," she acknowledged.

Paige tipped her head to the side. "Does this mean that you're okay alright with us going on a date?" Paige asked, not even attempting to conceal the hope in her voice.

Emily raised both eyebrows slightly and said, "I'd be delighted to go on a date with you, Paige McCullers."


	13. The First Date

**I don't own Uber, Cheesy Does It or PLL because if I did, I'd be a billionaire or something along those lines, haha :D**

* * *

Chapter 13

 **Emily's POV**

Emily was trying not to freaking out. One of her teammates on the swim team had been kind enough to let her borrow her dorm to get ready for the date, but Emily was a nervous wreck. She had a periwinkle halter dress with nude heels. Her hair, that she kept running her hand through, had loose waves. It was her go-to hairstyle and it was, in her opinion, the style that best suited her. Emily kept staring at her image in the mirror, twisting and turning to see herself from all possible angles. She gave her arms a stretch and then her legs like she was getting ready for a swim meet.

Emily had no idea why she was getting so worked up over a date. She had never been so distressed about them before. She tried to convince herself it was because it was the first one, but she knew that wasn't the answer. Before she could pick up her phone to postpone the date, someone knocked on the door, causing Emily to nearly drop her phone. Her heart felt like it was about it explode as she opened the door to see Paige. Emily's jaw dropped at the same time as her date's did as they took in each other's outfits. Paige was wearing a white collared shirt underneath a black blazer, paired with black dress slacks and black Oxford shoes.

"Wow Emily, you look amazing!" Paige exclaimed.

"You look just as good," Emily replied, her lips curving into a gentle smile at Paige's compliment.

"No way, you look _way_ better, but thanks," Paige's eyes darted to Emily's lips before she slowly leaned in to give her a sweet kiss. "Shall we?" Paige offered her arm and Emily, laughing, took it. Paige led Emily to the front of the campus where a yellow Prius was waiting for them.

"This isn't your car," Emily frowned slightly, confused.

Paige chuckled, "No, this is our carriage," she answered jokingly. Emily just looked at her blankly. "This is our _Uber_ carriage," Paige clarified and Emily's confused look was replaced with one full of mirth.

"Oh, I see," Emily struggled to keep a straight face.

"Do you like it?" Paige teased and Emily rolled her eyes.

"Did you get the most obnoxiously colored car just for me?" Emily's voice was heavy with playful sarcasm.

"Of course babe. Only the worst for you," Paige's voice was full of amusement.

"Hey! Are you gonna stand there and flap your jaws or what?" The driver had rolled down his window and was clearly crabby. Emily and Paige hurriedly got into the car, apologizing profusely. In the car, Emily realized how smoky it smelled inside and sighed. Of course, they have a driver that smokes. As the man got a good look at Emily, his persona changed immediately. "Hey darlin', how're you tonight?" The Uber driver rasped as he gave Emily a wink before starting the car. Emily recoiled in disgust, seeing his yellowing teeth and Paige draped her arm protectively over her roommate's shoulder while giving the guy an icy glare.

He didn't notice Paige's look as he started talking to Emily. "So, where are you goin' dressed all fancy?" He questioned, lighting a cigarette and putting it in his mouth. Emily felt like throwing up. She hated smoking and what it did to your body.

"She's going on a date," Paige said stiffly, her fist clenched.

The guy looked slightly surprised. "A date? Where's the fellow?" He paused before asking another question, "I bet he'll see you and know he's gettin' lucky tonight. Fortunate guy, he is."

Paige looked sullen before opening her mouth, but Emily quickly covered it with her hand. She guessed that if Paige opened her mouth and said what she was thinking, they would both be thrown out of the car. An awkward silence fell upon them and Emily scooted closer to Paige. The driver was completely unaware of his impact on both girls as he blew smoke that wafted to the backseat. Emily started coughing, her lungs and throat burning from the smoke inhalation. Her eyes streamed from all of the hacking and she grew more annoyed at the driver, hoping that the restaurant wasn't too far away.

A couple more minutes of silence, they arrived at a restaurant called Cheesy Does It. Emily stumbled out of the car as Paige threw a ten dollar bill at the driver before getting out herself. The guy sped away, yelling at Emily, "Call me!" Emily brushed herself off and shuddered as Paige pulled her into her arms.

"Sorry about that," Paige whispered, guilt clear in her voice. "I thought it would be funny to arrive in a yellow Prius. I didn't realize that the driver would be a disgusting piece of shit."

Emily cupped Paige's cheek, giving her a quick peck. "It's okay, you didn't know and it was funny in the beginning." They headed into the restaurant and the host greeted them, leading them to their seats.

* * *

 **Paige's POV**

Paige was disappointed in herself for having that yellow Prius bring them to Cheesy Does It. Sighing deeply, she decided to not let it bother her. It was her night to really show Emily that she had changed. That she wasn't trying to gain Emily's affections and then hit it and quit it for vengeance. Paige knew that Hanna would be a roadblock in this relationship, but she was willing to convince Hanna that she had good intentions. "This is pretty nice," Emily commented, her head swiveling from side to side as she looked at the decorations.

Paige inclined her head in agreement, taking in all of the pictures that were on the walls. There was a painting of green hills with a small cottage on top of one of them. There were a few birds flying over the hills and the clouds looked almost real. Emily's voice snapped her attention away from the painting. "Red roses?" Emily gently stroked one of the flowers in the vase that was on their table. "How did you know that they were my favorite?" Emily asked, still gazing at the roses. Paige blinked. She hadn't known that those were Emily's favorite flowers. She just knew that red roses represented love and devotion.

"Oh, um, I just heard you mentioning it to Hanna on the phone a while ago," Paige lied while wincing on the inside. She didn't want to start this relationship off with a lie, but it's not like it was a big one or anything. Emily smiled, her eyes moving from the flowers to Paige. When their eyes met, Paige felt herself melting into a puddle. _Wow,_ she thought, _I have it bad._

The waiter came over and introduced himself as Shaun. "What drinks would you like to start with?" Shaun asked with a friendly smile.

"Oh, I'll just take a water, please," Paige replied and Emily asked for a ginger ale. The evening was full of small talk about a bunch of random things like school, friends, family and interests. Surprisingly, the topic of swimming wasn't mentioned that much. After paying for their meal, Paige and Emily headed out to see a gray Malibu waiting for them.

"A Chevy. Nice," Emily observed. Paige blushed, still flustered by their last Uber experience and that she had made Emily get in that gross car.

"Yeah, hopefully this one is better," Paige muttered before getting into the car. As it turned out, this car ride was much nicer and the driver was nothing but friendly. Finally making it back to Harvard, Emily and Paige walked back to their dorm. On the walk back, Paige noticed that her hand kept brushing Emily's. She couldn't tell if Emily was doing it on purpose or not. Was she trying to hint that she wanted to hold hands? Paige had an internal argument with herself about it being creepy to just randomly hold Emily's hand. She decided to go for it and grasped Emily's hand, interlocking their fingers.

Emily turned and gave Paige a charming smile that made Paige weak in the knees. Holding hands with Emily made her feel better than she had ever been. Once they got to their room, Emily turned and threw her arms around Paige's neck. Instinctively, Paige wrapped her arms around Emily's waist. "Thank you for tonight. It was incredible," Emily said softly.

Paige couldn't keep a huge grin from spreading across her face. "You're welcome. Only the best for the best." Emily tipped her head back, laughing, before slowly closing the gap between her and Paige. Paige smiled against Emily's lips before pulling away.

"We'll have to do that again sometime," Emily remarked and Paige nodded.

"Of course," Paige affirmed.

* * *

 **Sorry for that horrible restaurant scene but I couldn't think of what they would talk about. Sorry, I'll work on it. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter anyways!**


	14. Maybe I Was Wrong About Her

Chapter 14

 **Emily's POV**

They had been dating for a month now, but it had felt like three days to Emily. She had learned a lot about Paige that she never knew, like Paige's favorite color was purple and her dad and she had more of a formal coach/player relationship rather than a father/daughter. Paige had said that he loved her, but he treated her more formally than most kids were. Emily hoped that Paige had learned a few things about her as well. Right now, their relationship was not the problem. Hanna was. She kept calling Emily to let her know that she was making a huge mistake. Emily didn't understand why it was so hard for Hanna to forgive Paige. The Harvard swimmer was currently seated on the floor, her back against her bed, toying with the bracelet that Paige had gotten her a few days ago.

She jumped out of her skin when her phone rang, her heartbeat increasing rapidly. She looked at the caller ID and rolled her eyes when she saw Hanna's name. She was seriously considering to decline the call since she knew that Hanna would only talk about Paige, but what kind of friend would that make her? She answered the call to hear Hanna immediately start gabbing. "Hey Em, we need to talk."

"Really?" Emily asked flatly. "And I wonder what the topic is," she stated sarcastically.

"Emily Fields, I don't have time for your shit right now," Hanna snapped. "Do you know that little coffee shop called The Grind? It's near your school. Meet me there."

Emily's stomach dropped. "You're _here_?" She questioned in disbelief.

"Not only me. ALL of us. Aria and Spencer are here too," Hanna informed her. _What the actual hell, Hanna?_ Emily thought furiously as she quickly stuffed her feet into her sandals and flung open the door and Paige, who had been on the other side with her hand on the handle, was flung onto Emily.

Paige smiled, looking pleased to be in Emily's arms. "Hey Em, how-" she began before her girlfriend interrupted her.

"Sorry Paige, can't talk now. Hanna, Aria, and Spencer are here and waiting for me," Emily muttered.

Paige's eyes widened as she guessed why they were here. "I'm the reason they're here. They don't trust me." Paige's expression turned downcast from being rejected by Emily's friends, but Emily could tell that Paige didn't blame them for hating her.

"I don't know, but I will once I get out of here," Emily placed a goodbye kiss on Paige's cheek before heading out to confront her friends.

* * *

 **Hanna's POV**

Hanna sat at a table with her friends, expecting Emily to come into the coffee shop anytime now. She drummed her fingers on the table in boredom but stopped immediately as she saw Emily enter. "Oh look! There she is!" Aria exclaimed loudly.

Spencer gave her a condescending look as she stated, "You don't need to inform everyone here, Aria." Aria slumped down, muttering an apology. Emily spotted them and quickly headed their way. "Hey guys," she said, giving them a tight smile as she sat down stiffly. Hanna watched her every move, frowning at Emily's awkwardness. "So, why are you all here?" The swimmer looked like she already knew the answer.

Hanna and Spencer exchanged glances before Spencer gestured for her to speak. The blonde cleared her throat, unsure of where to begin. "So...you're dating Paige?" Hanna winced at the obvious statement.

"Yes, I am. And that's the reason you guys visited me, isn't it? You want to warn me about how Paige is trying to get revenge and break my heart," Emily said, her face showing no expression.

Aria looked nervously at Hanna before speaking. "Is it a bad thing that we're here?"

Emily exhaled and Hanna knew that she wasn't mad that they were there. "No, it's not a bad thing. I'm glad and flattered that you guys care enough to come here," Emily admitted and the girls exchanged shocked glances.

"Of _course_ we care," Spencer said, putting her hand on Emily's arm. "It's just that we know what McCullers put you through during high school. Are you sure that she is just hiding her true colors?"

Emily hesitated, looking disconcerted. "Well, we were getting along as roommates a-and then we became friends...and then I told her I liked her and s-she said it back," Emily stammered slightly. "Then we went on a date and she was nothing but nice..." her voice trailed off.

Hanna could sense the confusion and sudden doubt about Paige in her best friend's mind. Suddenly Hanna felt bad that it had been partly her fault for Emily's distress. She decided that she wanted to diffuse the situation as quickly as she could. "Maybe you're right. Maybe Paige really _has_ changed. Maybe you've finally brought out the good in her. The romantic side of her." Hanna laughed slightly, trying to use humor to loosen the Harvard swimmer up. It didn't work. Emily was staring at her with such a troubled look that Hanna regretted getting everyone together.

Spencer and Aria had been watching this display in silence before Spencer decided to step in. "Okay, well, I think it's time for us to head to our hotel room. It was good seeing you, Em, but maybe we should meet at a different time," Spencer smiled widely before muttering under her breath, "and under different circumstances."

"Yeah," Aria stood up and put a hand on Emily's shoulder, "we'll see you soon Em." Both girls left Emily with Hanna, who was staring at her friend in dismay. Silently, she bent down to wrap Emily in her arms, but her heart fell when she didn't feel the brunette hug her back. The blonde let go and murmured a soft "see you later" and left, but not before she heard Emily whisper to herself, "Maybe I was wrong about her."

* * *

 **Phew, sorry I haven't updated in a while, but hope this drama filled chapter made up for it. Uh oh, Emily and Paige just got together!**


	15. Better Together

**So I'm back...finally. I know, it's been a long ass time and I apologize for that, but school is school. I've also realized that I always seem to get Paily together and then the next chapter they doubt each other again, so I'll work on not being so predictable and repetitive. Also, PLL and "Better Together" by Jack Johnson aren't mine. Enjoy this chapter!**

Chapter 15

 ** _Paige's POV_**

Paige sat down with her sandwich at the Subway near Harvard when Hanna Marin suddenly sat across from her. Paige blinked in confusion, wondering where she had come from. As she opened her mouth to ask, Hanna interrupted her rather loudly.

"What are you doing to Emily?"

Paige wasn't sure if she had heard correctly. What was she doing to Emily? "I'm dating her?" Paige said cautiously. She hadn't talked to any of Emily's friends since making up with her. Hanna narrowed her eyes, making Paige shift uncomfortably in her seat.

"Dating her? Or using her?" Hanna accused. Paige's eyes widened in shock.

"Using her?" Paige repeated.

"Yeah, you're going to break her heart as revenge for swiping the captain's spot from you." Hanna declared like she had discovered who the murderer was.

Paige wasn't sure if she was comprehending what the blonde was saying. Hanna was _still_ trying to use her naiveness in high school against her? "Um, Hanna, that was in fucking high school!" Paige exclaimed, exasperated. "I was young and dumb and way too competitive for my own good. I've already apologized to Emily and she accepted it. Now, why can't you?"

Hanna gave the swimmer an irritated look while shaking her head. Paige was beyond confused by now. She had no idea how she was supposed to convince Hanna that she genuinely cared about Emily.

"Paige, you did not give show one sign of liking Emily all throughout high school. And let me remind you that we are freshmen in college. _You were in high school literally six months ago._ You cannot seriously think that I would be able to forgive you yet. Did you forget what you fucking did to her? To her friends?" Hanna was shouting now and Paige shot uneasy glances around her. "Oh, now you worry about what people think of your opinions about Emily? What changed, Paige? How can you go from hating someone's guts to dating them in this short of a time period?" The blonde sat down, cradling her head in her hands. The Harvard swimmer softly cleared her throat, at a loss of words. Page had no idea how strongly Hanna had felt about her relationship with Emily.

"Hanna?" Paige asked weakly. "Are...are you ok-" she began before Hanna looked up and interrupted her.

"I want Emily to be happy, but I'm afraid that she's going to get hurt and I won't be there to pick up the pieces of her heart," Hanna whispered. Paige felt a pang in her own heart as Hanna uttered those words. She finally understood why Hanna was having such a hard time with the relationship.

"Hey," Paige started, "I know that I was an asshole in high school and I get that it wasn't too long ago that I was bullying you guys. I don't expect you to forgive me, but I hope that you'll give me a chance to prove that I'm not with Emily just for vengeance."

Hanna stared at her silently for a few moments before asking, "Do you love her?"

Paige was caught off guard with the question and frankly, didn't really know the answer. She thought about how she and Emily first realized that they liked each other on the beach. She thought about their first date with the horrific yellow Uber. She thought to their second date and third and fourth and all the nights they would spend talking with each other. Learning about each other. And kissing of course. Paige thought about how Emily and she just fit. They just shared a connection besides the love for swimming. They shared something special. The only problem was that Paige didn't know if Emily felt as strongly as she did for Emily. Taking a deep breath and looking Hanna straight in the eye, Paige said, "Yes."

Hanna seemed to sense the sincerity in Paige's face and voice because she broke out into a smile and said, "Well then what are you waiting for? Go get your girl!"

Paige, who was stunned, yet happy by Hanna's chane in attitude, got out of her seat and went to throw away her garbage. She exited the restaurant with Hanna at her heels. Paige turned back and said, "I suppose that you want to witness this."

Hanna rolled her eyes. "Duh! And I might have planted a seed of doubt in her mind that you actually wanted a real relationship with her, so I might need to come as back up in case she punches you."

Paige sighed. "Alright, let's go quickly before she has any more time to doubt my intentions.

* * *

 **Emily's POV**

Emily pulled her knees into her chest even more as she sat on her bed. She didn't know what to think. Paige had never given her any reason to doubt anything, but Hanna had been very convincing. She thought that she knew Paige pretty well, but now that she actually thought about it, Paige had changed opinions of her pretty fast. It wasn't that long ago when Paige was her enemy. Emily groaned, closing her eyes, trying to stop her brain from overthinking everything. She grabbed her phone, wanting to go on Yahoo Answers to get help, but then almost laughed at herself. This relationship might be doomed if she relied on Yahoo Answers for advice. Just as she put her phone down, the dorm room door slammed open and Emily nearly jumped out of her skin.

Paige stood there, breathing hard like she had sprinted across campus. "Paige," Emily started, surprised, but her roommate didn't let her finish.

"Emily. I don't know what you're thinking about...this right now," Paige said as she gestured to herself and Emily. "I don't want you thinking that I'm only with you to cause you pain," Paige continued and Emily raised an eyebrow. Hanna must have attacked her somewhere. "Once Hanna attacked me," Paige began and Emily stifled a small smirk, "I knew that I had to do something. I wasn't sure how to explain how I feel about you, but as I was driving here, a song was playing on the radio and, for some reason, it explained my feelings way better than I could ever have done." Paige stated and took a deep breath, opening her mouth. Emily could guess what was going to happen next.

"There's no combination of words I could put on the back of a postcard. No song that I could sing, but I can try for your heart and our dreams and they are made out of real things. Like a shoebox of photographs with sepiatone loving. Love is the answer, at least for most of the questions in my heart. Like 'why are we here?' and 'where do we go?' and 'how come it's so hard?' It's not always easy and sometimes life can be deceiving. I'll tell you one thing, it's always better when we're together. Mmm, it's always better when we're together. Yeah, we'll look at them stars when we're together. Well, it's always better when we're together. Yeah, it's always better when we're together."

As Paige sung to her, Emily tried to stay wary and distant, but the combination of the sweet words and Paige's warm smile was enough to break Emily. After Paige had finished singing the portion of Jack Johnson's song, Emily got up. "What about Hanna?" Emily asked and Hanna entered the dorm room.

"Hey Em, guess what? I guess Paige is for real." Hanna said before winking and leaving.

Emily was stunned. "You managed to convince Hanna? How did you do that?" she questioned in disbelief.

Paige smirked. "I have my ways."

"Yeah, you do," Emily muttered under her breath, before walking over to Paige and closing the gap between them. Paige's hands found themselves at Emily's waist and smiling against Paige's lips, Emily wrapped her arms around the other swimmer's neck.


End file.
